Paul Desmarais
Executive Chairman @ Portage Ventures
Montréal, Canada
Paul Desmarais is a seed investor at Portage Ventures in Montréal focused on Financial Services and FinTech. Paul is the Executive Chairman of Portag3 Ventures and also serves as the Senior Vice-President of Power Financial and Power Corporation. Before joining Power as Vice-President in May 2014, he was Assistant Vice-President in the Risk Management Group of Great-West Lifeco beginning in 2012. Previously, he worked in project management and corporatestrategy at Imerys in France. He began his career in 2004, working for five years with Goldman Sachs in the United States, in the Investment Banking and Investment Strategy Groups, as well as in the Special Situations Group.In May 2014, Paul was named a director of Great-West Life, Investors Group, Mackenzie, Pargesa and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. He is also Chairman of Sagard Capital and Wealthsimple, and Vice-Chairman of Imerys. In December 2016, Paul was named a director of Personal Capital.
- Total investments:
- 11
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 36%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Paul Desmarais invests in
Stages Paul Desmarais invests in
Countries Paul Desmarais invests in
Contacts
| Type | Contact | Validation |
|---|---|---|
| Work email | ||
| Personal email | ||
| Work phone | ||
| Personal phone | ||
| Socials |
Investment Focus
Industry
- Financial Services 3 (27%)
- FinTech 2 (18%)
- Venture Capital 2 (18%)
- Banking 1 (9%)
- Finance 1 (9%)
Stage
- Seed 2 (18%)
- Series B 2 (18%)
- Private Equity 2 (18%)
- Series A 1 (9%)
- Series C 1 (9%)
Country
- Canada 3 (27%)
- India 1 (9%)
- Turkey 1 (9%)
- United States 1 (9%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nesto is a digital mortgage and home financing platform that helps individuals obtain, renew, and refinance mortgages through an online application process. The company combines mortgage comparison tools, lending services, and advisor support to help borrowers evaluate financing options, submit applications, upload documentation, and managemortgage transactions digitally. Its platform uses technology to match borrowers with suitable mortgage products while providing guidance throughout the approval and funding process. Nesto also offers educational resources covering mortgage rates, home buying, refinancing, and other financing topics, and provides mortgage technology solutions that financial institutions can use to support digital mortgage origination and servicing workflows. | $216.5M / Series E / Jun 10, 2026 | ||
| Nesto is a digital mortgage and home financing platform that helps individuals obtain, renew, and refinance mortgages through an online application process. The company combines mortgage comparison tools, lending services, and advisor support to help borrowers evaluate financing options, submit applications, upload documentation, and managemortgage transactions digitally. Its platform uses technology to match borrowers with suitable mortgage products while providing guidance throughout the approval and funding process. Nesto also offers educational resources covering mortgage rates, home buying, refinancing, and other financing topics, and provides mortgage technology solutions that financial institutions can use to support digital mortgage origination and servicing workflows. | Secondary Market / Jun 10, 2026 | ||
| Midas is the first neobroker of Turkey, providing zero commission Turkish and American stocks. | $80M / Series B / Aug 19, 2025 | ||
| Midas is the first neobroker of Turkey, providing zero commission Turkish and American stocks. | $45M / Series A / Apr 19, 2024 | ||
| Founded in 2005, Performance Equity Management is an American private equity firm investing in venture capital funds and companies. | Private Equity / Dec 06, 2023 | ||
| Octav is a free and customizable data analytics platform that helps in analyzing decentralized finance investment activities. | $2.7M / Seed / Sep 12, 2023 | ||
| Nesto is a digital mortgage and home financing platform that helps individuals obtain, renew, and refinance mortgages through an online application process. The company combines mortgage comparison tools, lending services, and advisor support to help borrowers evaluate financing options, submit applications, upload documentation, and managemortgage transactions digitally. Its platform uses technology to match borrowers with suitable mortgage products while providing guidance throughout the approval and funding process. Nesto also offers educational resources covering mortgage rates, home buying, refinancing, and other financing topics, and provides mortgage technology solutions that financial institutions can use to support digital mortgage origination and servicing workflows. | $80M / Series C / Dec 13, 2022 | ||
| Stack is a mobile finance platform for the millennial and gen-z generation. Its platform helps people lead healthier financial lives and automate their savings, spending, and investments along with their friends and family. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. | $4.5M / Seed / Dec 16, 2021 | ||
| Nesto is a digital mortgage and home financing platform that helps individuals obtain, renew, and refinance mortgages through an online application process. The company combines mortgage comparison tools, lending services, and advisor support to help borrowers evaluate financing options, submit applications, upload documentation, and managemortgage transactions digitally. Its platform uses technology to match borrowers with suitable mortgage products while providing guidance throughout the approval and funding process. Nesto also offers educational resources covering mortgage rates, home buying, refinancing, and other financing topics, and provides mortgage technology solutions that financial institutions can use to support digital mortgage origination and servicing workflows. | $62.8M / Series B / Jun 10, 2021 | ||
| They take you through a simple process of bringing your vision to life – the lifestyle you want, the amount of your wealth to be transferred to family, and any legacy or charitable goals you have. Their job is to help enable your wealth to fuel what’s important to you and brings you happiness. | $10.4M / Private Equity / Apr 21, 2021 | ||
| See all 11 investments → | |||
Co-Investors
About Portage Ventures
Portage Ventures is a global fintech-focused venture capital investor. The firm makes early-stage investments in promising Canadian financial tech companies that have potential for global impact.
Portage Ventures Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Tripp Shriner
General Partner
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Adam Felesky
CEO
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AJ Okereke
Principal
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Carina Doshi
Chief of Staff
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Daniel Ballen
Partner and Co-Head, Portage Capital Solutions
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FAQ
What does Paul Desmarais invest in?
Paul Desmarais invests primarily in Financial Services, FinTech and Venture Capital startups, most often at Seed and Series B stage. Most of the 11 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Canada. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
How do I contact Paul Desmarais?
Public channels for Paul Desmarais include LinkedIn. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
When did Paul Desmarais last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Paul Desmarais closed in Jun 2026. Shizune tracks 11 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Nov 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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